× The internal search function is temporarily non-functional. The current search engine is no longer viable and we are researching alternatives.
As a stop gap measure, we are using Google's custom search engine service.
If you know of an easy to use, open source, search engine ... please contact support@midrange.com.



Very interesting thread to follow as already noted by a number of people.

One thing I am finding interesting in particular is the focus on the
semantics of a language as opposed to the design / time saving / business
benefits that the frameworks supplied with the languages provide. To my
mind, the benefits of say C# or VB.Net are not the language semantics, but
the underlying framework that you get access to. I also believe that this
is the single largest mistake I've seen companies make in their
development platform decisions - they focus too much on the language and
not enough on the framework and associated tools that you can leverage.

We've spent, based on a sound business case, significant effort creating
(in RPG) structures which we could have adopted "for free" if we'd moved
to .Net for example. However the move to .Net provides us with no
(practical in terms of cost) migration path of our business application
whereas the work done in RPG has done so. The result has been around a 40%
saving in development time for the projects built on top of this
framework, and seamless integration into our existing application. It
essentially provides us with an Object nomenclature, tiered structure with
physical and logical separation between tiers and improves our system
utilisation (particularly memory and disk I/O). And bearing in mind that
the 40% saving is on top of what was already short development cycle
times. We have a great team and I'm very proud of what we do / achieve.

Some of the questions we asked:
1) Is there anything in a practical sense that RPG can't provide us with
on the i that another language could that would radically improve either
our development velocity or quality?
2) What is the cost to learn new language semantics along with new design
/ architectural concepts?
3) What would the migration strategy to move to a completely revised data
and business tier cost us for our business application if we moved away
from RPG?
4) How many people will we lose if we elect to move to a new language base
and what is the cost of the associated knowledge loss?
5) Does this work provide us with a practical migration plan to a non IBM
i platform at reduced cost should we wish / be forced to?
6) What can we do to engage the hearts and minds of our developers and the
business to support the work we're undertaken along with the "hard"
numbers?
7) What can we learn and leverage from other frameworks and languages and
best practices to make out RPG framework / development work better for us
and our business?

RPG has limitations and the IBM i has limitations. So does every other
platform. We're developers - we come up with creative solutions to
problems every day. A language / framework may help you to get there
quicker, but, generally speaking, the outcome will look and feel the same.
The key wins to my mind are to build better quality, more maintainable
applications that meet our businesses' needs as quickly as we possibly
can. RPG isn't the constraint really, the way we look at RPG and hold
ourselves back is more often than not the constraint.

I get all the commentary about time etc, but I find it strange that any
reasonable business person would not support initiatives that would
demonstrably save time / money and certainly better leveraging of your
tools falls into that category.

Regards,
Brenden Conolly
General Manager, Core Systems Development
Information Technology

This email is sent by Auto & General Insurance Company Ltd, A&G Insurance Services Pty Ltd, Australian Insurance Holdings Pty Ltd or a related body corporate (A&G) and is for the intended addressee. The views expressed in this email and attachments (email) reflect the views of the stated author but may not reflect views of A&G. This email is confidential and subject to copyright. It may be privileged. If you are not the intended addressee, confidentiality and privilege have not been waived and any use, interference with, or disclosure of this email is unauthorised. If you are not the intended addressee please immediately notify the sender and then delete the email. A&G does not warrant that this email is error or virus free.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This thread ...


Follow On AppleNews
Return to Archive home page | Return to MIDRANGE.COM home page

This mailing list archive is Copyright 1997-2024 by midrange.com and David Gibbs as a compilation work. Use of the archive is restricted to research of a business or technical nature. Any other uses are prohibited. Full details are available on our policy page. If you have questions about this, please contact [javascript protected email address].

Operating expenses for this site are earned using the Amazon Associate program and Google Adsense.